The Unstoppable iPhone: These Strikes and Supply Shortcomings Are No Match

Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone 5 wasn’t available for long before 5 million devices on pre-order were all spoken for. However, demand like that requires a heavy push on the supply side to put the phone in customer hands in a timely manner. The two sides to this matter: how long can customers wait, and how fast can manufacturers work?

The answers:

If you asked a friends who wanted an iPhone 5, it’s likely he was getting impatient from the moment it was announced. If you went to the Foxconn factories producing the iPhone 5, you would see workers hustling to put out the product — or striking, depending on the day.

In August, a group of less than a hundred factory workers were expected to produce 3,000 iPhones per day, and after the iPhone 5 was announced, that number jumped up to 6,500 per day. This quantity increase came alongside increased quality demands that contributed to the strike.

Also cited for the slow shipping is the new screen technology which is harder to manufacture and supply, with LG (NYSE:LPL) being a chief supplier of the technology, and Sharp Corp. unable to supply adequate screens before the phone’s debut.